ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Vygotsky’s genetic method applied to second language teaching/learning research. The genetic method transcends simple causality and other positivist investigative methods and focuses instead on documenting the development of higher psychological functions through mediation in both experimental and naturalistic settings. The genetic method aims to reveal the mediated origin of thought and communication through language as a tool for sociocultural and psychological interaction. This chapter proposes a methodological turn in Spanish as a FL/L2: Seeking and developing an investigative praxis to document and understand the mediational means that foster conceptual processes, and the creation of representations as mediational thinking tools through the method of double stimulation. The purpose is to change the trajectory of learners and instructors, who both take an active role in the research process.
